Setting a Good Example
by Blazichu
Summary: Had the day been interesting? Undeniably, but it begged the question: evil genius creator, or would-be-dad?


I found this on my computer while I was cleaning it up, the other day, and figured "Hey, this is kinda cute, and I'm pretty sure it's finished...why not post it?". So...that's pretty much all I'm doing. It takes place in the episode with "Fibber", but that's kind of obvious... it's about all the info I can remember, though... this oneshot is probably over a year old. ^^;

* * *

All things considered, it had been a good day for evil genius Jumba Jookiba...even though he'd had to sit through that stupid "etiquette boot camp" that Pleakley set up.

Nani had gotten that job she'd been talking about...so maybe she wouldn't be so...prickly; Lilo had managed to disguise her ever-so-obvious crush from the object of her affections, for at least another day... 199 had gotten loose, and he'd been able to witness some of the mayhem that came along with that experiment. With that fact came another important one: the revealing of Pleakley's gender. The scientist smiled at the memory of his one-eyed friend's expression as that little gem had been revealed. It wasn't that he wanted to see the 'Earth expert' hurt...but it was a convenient excuse to laugh at him, for now.

Not that any of those should overshadow what was really to be treasured about today: he'd just noticed something very important about his fluffy blue creation.

_"You've got your dinner fork, your salad fork, your dessert spoon and your soup spoon." The one-eyed alien listed from across the table, looking at them eagerly. "Guess which one you use for your soup."_

_Jumba looked down at the arrangement in front of him and nearly rolled his eyes. Why did everything having to do with Earth have to be so complicated? He had played god and created entirely new species, and still the evil genius still did not understand why these beings found it so important to have clothing to distinguish opposite genders. What was the purpose? Feeling particularly rebellious, he voiced this sentiment._

_"Why use any? Is better to just use bowl."_

_And with that, he lifted the bowl to his mouth and drank the soup. From the eye farthest to the right Jumba caught 626 staring up at him curiously, heard a faint "Oooh..." as the experiment's eyes lit up, and saw the little guy imitating him gleefully. _

_"No, no, no, no, no!" Pleakley howled, attempting to wrest the half full bowl away from Stitch. The experiment didn't let go, but didn't use his full strength to reclaim the dish, as the noodle-like being still had all three feet on the ground. "Bowl-slurping is not good etiquette! It's the opposite of good __etiquitte_! It's-!"

_Aaand there went Agent Wendy Pleakley. It looked like 626 had finally decided to let go of the bowl, sending the other head over heels as the opposing force disappeared. _

_"...bad __etiquitte _..." He finished lamely as Stitch licked at the soup dripping from his face, then polished off the bowl to boot. The four-eyed alien caught the slight smirk that tugged at the cyclopse's mouth before the next words were spoken.

_"Okay, new __etiquette _rule: no aliens disguised as dogs at the brunch table."

_Stitch gave a pitiful whine and his ears drooped, but -__miraculously_- didn't object further.

_-_

_The three sitting on the couch glanced at each other, bored, as Pleakley prompted them to talk to those ridiculous sock puppets he'd made to look like the Jamesons. _

_"Welcome. Please come in." Lilo said tonelessly when the alien asked for a greeting. _

_They tuned out again as he attempted to introduce the puppets to them; but Jumba wasn't allowed to daydream for long, as the cyclopse hissed: "Introduce yourselves!"_

_Knowing full well that it would be suicide to allow 626 to go first (though he wasn't sure whose: Pleakley's for beckoning Stitch over, or Stitch's for bungling another 'etiquitte' lesson.) he moved over on his own, seizing the sock around what could loosely be called the neck. _

_"Hello, I am Jumba Jookiba," He said, a glint worthy of being labeled devious in all four of his eyes. "evil genius scientist from planet Kweltakwan. Nice to meeting you."_

_From down to his side, he spied a familiar blue shape capturing Pleakley's other hand and shaking it rapidly...it was only a matter of seconds before the 'Expert' fell over, and a more threatening presence revealed itself..._

_"What is going on here?" Nani asked from the doorway. _

_Seeing that Lilo was making her way over to explain, Jumba just smiled uneasily, catching Stitch looking up at him curiously._

_"Jumba just told Mr. Jameson he was an alien...then he squashed him!"_

_-_

_He complained loudly about the change of clothing all the way down the stairs, suddenly regretting his decision not to __disintegrate _them after the Glocknar incident. Lilo trailed behind him almost nervously, and when he turned around...

_"Ta-da!" Chimed Stitch from the top of the stairs. _

_Jumba choked back a laugh at the sight of his little creation, dressed up in a strange red shirt from heavens knew where (it certainly wasn't Pleakley's, and was far too small to belong to the scientist) and a green tie that dragged on the ground. Unfortunately, someone appeared to have missed out on __that__ memo, as 626 tripped on the tie, walking down the stairs; accidentally bowling his official 'owner' over along the way. He got up quickly, though, grinning sheepishly._

_"...ta-da!" He repeated, holding his arms up. _

_Pleakley didn't look amused. In fact..._

_"Actually, I was more comfortable with the dog disguise..."_

_Stitch's ears drooped, "Aww..."_

As odd as those situations had been, the genius had picked up an important detail from all three: experiment 626's mimicry of his actions. The 'little blue wrecking ball' had looked to his creator before acting, and the scientist found it rather...heartwarming. He had not been thrilled by Pleakley's criticism, however. It wasn't as though 626 had a point of reference for all of that 'etiquitte'nonsense, and his programming certainly wouldn't have helped at all; he was built for destruction and to cause mayhem, not to attend brunches and tea parties... Which, Jumba noticed belatedly, he'd been doing an alarming amount of, lately.

The evil genius just couldn't understand where his fellow alien was coming from with those comments; Stitch was functioning perfectly! He was causing just enough chaos and had consumed just enough furniture and silverware to be true to his purpose, but was still managing to learn and adapt to his surroundings... Was it possible to be more proud of the little experiment? He didn't think so...

And...well, he _had_ gotten his revenge on Pleakley on his creation's behalf, anyway.... The shouting about "evil genius experiment"s and tackling Mr. Jameson had not been misinterpretation of Earth's culture...and had not been sheerly for the fun of it, either. Witnessing his supposed wife's reaction had been a reasonable payback...

Still, seeing 626's analyzation and imitation of his actions was touching in a way he couldn't fully articulate; and he had the feeling he'd read something about this behavior in developing humans, too... While it was true that 199 was one of his favorite experiments, Dr. Jumba Jookiba hadn't truly had a clear-cut favorite until today...

It had definitely been a good day...yeah, good.


End file.
